West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education has started the WBCHSE HS Exam 2026 Semester 3 on September 8, 2025. Around 6.6 lakh students are expected to appear for the WB 12th semester III examination.

Out of the total number of candidates, 56.03 per cent were girls. The state board students who had written semester exams in class 11 took the test in a similar format in their final year of school.

As per the PTI report, West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education president Chiranjib Bhattacharya said the exam, which is the first evaluation of class 12 students in the semester format in the council’s history, will continue until August 22.

The board president further said that in the new format, question papers in semesters one and three have multiple-choice questions to promote thinking and reasoning. Semester two and four will have SAQ (short answer question) and DQ (development quotient) to retain the writing abilities, reported PTI.

WB HS semester 3 exams commenced on September 8 and will conclude on September 22, 2025. The exam will be held in a single shift on all days, from 10 am to 10.45 am. The exam is being held at 2016 centres across the state, out of which 122 centres have been categorised as ‘sensitive’.

The Board has issued guidelines for candidates appearing for the exam. This year onwards, the examinees are not allowed to carry calculators along with items like any printed or written textual material, kits of paper, plastic pouch, pen drives, writing pad, log table, electronic pen/scanner, mobile phones, blue tooth ear phones, microphones, pager, smart watch, camera, goggles, meta glasses, bag/ handbags, health band, any other electronic-device/gadget, etc. into the examination venues/hall.

The West Bengal Class 12 semester 3 exams commenced with language papers- Bengali, English, Hindi, Nepali, Urdu, Santhali, Odia, Telugu and Punjabi and will conclude with Biological Science, Political Science, Costing and Taxation.